Quantum computer research

Participants - Kick-off-Workshop Helmholtz Virtual Institute „New states of matter and their excitations“

Monday, April 22, saw the start of the Helmholtz Virtual Institute’s three-day kick-off workshop entitled “New states of matter and their excitations” at the Free University Berlin. The Institute, which is coordinated by the HZB, has as its focus the collective behavior and new phases of matter. At the opening event, Prof. Dr. Brigitta Schütt, the Free University’s VP, said she was thrilled that Dahlem was the workshop location for this important collaboration – which also includes the Dresden-based Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden Technical University, Göttingen University, and Dortmund Technical University. Schütt stressed that the particular strength of Berlin as a research hub was fed by the performance of the region’s scientific institutions and their openness to collaborations.

Prior to Schütt’s speech, the HZB’s Scientific Director, Prof. Dr. Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla, had officially welcomed the workshop participants. Kaysser-Pyzalla stressed the Virtual Institute’s compelling concept as well as the general appeal of its research focus: Only one-fifth of all submitted proposals for Helmholtz Virtual Institutes actually end up securing funding from the Helmholtz Association’s Impulse and Network Endowment.

Topological quantum phases are the focus of the “New states of matter and their excitations” Virtual Institute. For several decades, the incredible wealth of metallic, magnetic, and superconducting connections has yielded unexpected results in basic science research and the material sciences. In the search for new phases, a radical change is currently taking hold.

Recently, different research findings in this field have brought together scientists of different backgrounds. Partially based on the vision to make topological quantum computers a reality, this has provoked significant financial funding across Europe, Asia, and North America. To date, there have never been any comparable activities in Germany.

The HZB’s Helmholtz Virtual Institute is here to help. It is aimed at bringing together leading scientists so that they are able to study topological quantum phases together.

Alan Tennant - Video-Interview and have a look at our Pressrelease "Europhysics Prize an Alan Tennant."